In Production Today – February 2013

Oswald may have been an ‘ex’ cyclone, but it pummelled the east coast of Australia (between 25th – 28th January).

Bayside Brisbane, where I live, experienced some heavy rain with Oswald, but it was the gusting winds that caused most damage between 27th – 28th January. More damage occurred on the morning of 28th than at any other time because the topsoil had become soaked and provided little anchorage for roots. Trees, and the bamboo (Bambusa oldhamii) opposite the house, slumped in the wind.

Storm surges saturated properties along the Moreton Bay foreshore. Affected trees and soil will gradually recover, but the salt spray damage to foliage looks like heat damage from a cool bushfire.

Oswald took my young fig tree, Ficus carica ‘Preston’s Prolific’, a heritage cultivar from Melbourne. Also went two fruiting stems of banana, luckily the ‘Java Blue’ bananas are mature enough to eat green. The ‘First Fleet’ coffee tree has lost 80% of its cherries, the golden oregano (Origanum vulgare ‘Aureum’) and purple fennel have rotted (Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’).

After the storm damage had been tidied up, the sun, wind and heat returned, drying out the topsoil so daily watering became essential once again.

The garden looks quite lush and the menu has increased to 92 taxa, but as I write, an East Coast Low weather system now threatens further destructive winds…

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6 thoughts on “In Production Today – February 2013”

We are located on the Sunshine Coast. We had tall bamboo and a eucalypt come down in ex cyclone Oswald. With the dry spring, most of our citrus dropped fruit. The lemon, retained its fruit, only to drop them after the deluge at the end of the January.
Good to see you still have cocoyam in your garden. I’ve been trying to source some – however the plants illustrated in online sources seem to have a different leaf structure (probably not the same plant, even though they are cited with the same name Xanthosoma sagittifolium). Would appreciate any tips on where I can source a tuber of the same variety that you grow.

Hi Karin,
If you come to my open day, advertised on line on Open Gardens Australia’s website, ask me for a piece.
Otherwise around now a few fruit shops may sell White Taro, (a bad Qld pseudonym) from Australia’s last cocoyam farmer in Tully.
J

Hi Jerry, I’ve just moved to the Sunshine Coast from the far south coast NSW and have a veggie patch to play with for the first time in years. I’m a novice to this type of climate (is it wet season or summer??!) and need a bit of advice on what to plant in my veggie patch for this time of year. Do you have a plant guide on your site? I’m also looking for a fast-growing climber (maybe snake beans?) to cover up an ugly rose arbour – any suggestions?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers, Christa

Dear Christa
Brisbane Organic Growers post a list on their website. My planting list is published in The Organic Gardener magazine. Gardening Australia website has a vegie guide but their information isn’t all that good for the subtropics.
Buy Madagascar bean from Green Harvest if you want a quick productive vine at this time of year.
Happy to answer single questions.
Cheers
Jerry

Hi Jerry,
Could not get to Mullumbimby Community Gardens yesterday. My road finally become impassable, first time in 12 years.
I wanted to ask you what to do organically for leaf spot/brown spot on silverbeet, peruvian chard, southern spinach etc. Internet seems not to know. Thanks. Rasa ( Byron Hinterland Seed Savers)

The cause is bacteria, they love warm, moist conditions and worst affect plants given plenty of nitrogen. So hold back on nourishment if you fertilise them.

I get this disease on silverbeet so badly I only grow them in autumn and spring.
Silverbeet is a favourite host.

Pick off dead and dying foliage. You can compost the debris.
If possible, encourage ventilation between plants (impossible in current soaking conditions) by thinning as you crop.

In dry conditions you can spray foliage with a solution of 3 teaspoonfuls of bicarbonate of soda per litre of water. The alkalinity retards bacterial growth, it’s not a silver bullet, but if it can work for a day without rain or dew rinsing it off it can tip things your way.

Sorry you couldn’t make it, completely understand, I was half expecting it to be cancelled as it was (for my garden) the wettest day in a decade: 175mm.

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